poetry – Susan Joy Clark

Creative Life, Poetry

Monster in My Head, #Chant Poetry

There’s a little monster in my head,

He’s a one-man percussion band,

beating his bongos and grinning —

maliciously.

There’s a little monster in my head,

who doesn’t like to go to bed.

When it’s time to sleep,

the little monster in my head

plays bongos and castanets and

vuvuzelas, jumping up and down inside my

cranium — that little monster in my head.

There’s a little monster in my head,

with a trampoline and a mallet

and — perhaps — a chisel,

and he’s doing unwelcomed and

random refurbishments —

that little monster in my head.

There’s a little monster in my head,

and he likes to play with the lights,

strobe lights and

disco lights

to go with the beat of the bongos,

to go with the beat of his mallet —

that little monster in my head.

There’s a little monster in my head,

doing the conga with his monster friends,

doing gymnastics with dangerous

objects — far worse than running

with scissors — that little monster in my head.

There’s a little monster in my head,

and I have no love for him.

I’d really like to evict him

and make him vacate —

that little monster in my head.

There’s a little monster in my head,

but I can not make him go —

that nasty wasty monster in my head.

There’s a little monster in my head,

and you might know his name.

Do you want to know it?

That little monster in my head?

His name is …

Migraine.

This was written — a little late again — for dVerse’s chant poetry challenge. I started out with a completely different poetry idea, but the migraine continues (a little bit reduced by medicine maybe) and has been quite distracting. So, I decided to write about it. There was once a commercial for some sort of migraine medication that presented the “migraine” like a cartoonized monster. In an abstract way, it kind of made sense to me (not scientifically,) but in the sense of how it feels. It’s too bad I didn’t make this coincide with Migraine Awareness Month which was in June.

Creative Life, Poetry

Orchids, #dVerse Poetics, #double etheree

Photo I took at New York Botanical Gardens in 2009

orchid

intrigues me,

with its beauty

and its simple grace,

varied varieties,

speckled or veined with color,

rare types, popping color contrasts,

ruffled or smooth, they’re shapeshifting things,

I begin to understand Nero Wolfe

and his fascination with orchids

or the hold they have with smugglers.

they are mimics in disguise,

as monkeys or dancers,

ducks, egrets or bees.

under greenhouse

glass they thrive,

beauty

blooms.

This was written a little late for the dVerse Poetics challenge, in which we were challenged to write a poem with a gardening theme. I was not too inspired yesterday, suffering from a post Covid shot migraine. I decided to write about orchids which I have grown to love, beginning with some visits to public gardens such as the New York Botanical Gardens. This is a double etheree, with the following syllable count pattern, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Creative Life, Poetry

Artists of Yore, #Paint Chip Poetry, #Ubi sunt

Where are the artists now of yore,

Talent oozing from ev’ry pore,

Who made out of Scripture’s pages,

Art that lasted through the ages?

With great skill and brushes of gold,

In manuscripts rare and now old,

they worked out illumination,

which now with much rumination,

we wonder in awe at their craft,

Studying letters’ fore and aft.

Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Where now are the Renaissance men,

Like Leonardo was back then?

Even his sketches in graphite

Are an extraordinary sight.

Now, his drawings of his machines,

his Vitruvian Man long and lean,

Are kept under glass for our view,

Preserved in peachy sepia hues.

They then continue to amaze,

All those who upon them will gaze.

Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This was written for Linda Kruschke’s Paint Chip Poetry challenge, where we were challenged to write an ubi sunt poem featuring three of the paint chip words. A few of these words like “octopus” were a bit strange this time, but the words “illumination” and “graphite” immediately struck me as having artistic applications. I thought I could work “peachy” in there too.

Below is a paragraph taken from Linda’s page, which she took from John Drury’s poetry dictionary on the ubi sunt poetry form.

UBI SUNT (uh’-suhnt’, “uh” pronounced as in “put”; Latin, “where are”) Poetic theme in which the poet asks “where are” certain people, where have they gone. The theme began in Medieval Latin, with the formula ubi sunt used to introduce a roll call of the dead or missing and to suggest how transitory life is.

The best-known ubi sunt poem [is] François Villon’s ballade whose refrain is “But where are the snows of yester-year?”

Creative Life, Dog poetry, It's a Doggy Dog World, On the Funny Side, Poetry, Short funnies, anecdotes

Choc’late Bliss, #Laugh-Along-a- Limerick

A dog found a big choc’late kiss

That’s toxic to dogs; despite this,

The dog, he survived,

Besides which, he thrived,

And didn’t regret choc’late bliss.

I sometimes hear stories from dog owners that their dogs survive with little ill effect after eating something which is toxic for dogs. Even so, be very careful to protect your dog from eating things that will harm him. If you’re in this situation, call your vet.

This was written for Esther Chilton’s Laugh Along a Limerick challenge, using the word “bliss.” I thought I’d join in, although I may be a little late to the party.

Creative Life, Poetry

For Love of My Characters #Paint Chip Terza Rima

Blank canvas is my laptop screen,

Where seedlings of ideas might grow,

Unfolding action to be seen.

My characters act out a show,

On a different sort of screen,

And to the cliff’s edge sometimes go.

Though they dangle close to danger

And sometimes they fall into it,

To complete demise, they’re strangers.

This, my love for them, won’t permit,

A happily ever after

Must resolve every conflict.

This was written for Linda Kruschke’s Paint Chip Poetry challenge where we were challenged to use three of the words or phrases below in a terza rima form poem. I found quite a few of these worked perfectly for a poem on storytelling.

Here is an explanation of the terza rima from Linda’s page and the poetry dictionary.

TERZA RIMA (tare’-tsuh ree’-muh; Italian, “third rhyme”) Tercets with an interwoven rhyme scheme, invented by Dante Alighieri for The Divine Comedy: aba bcb cdc ded efe fgf, etc. The poem (or individual section, called a canto by Dante) usually ends with a single line or a couplet, rhyming with the previous tercet’s middle line. But it may also end with a tercet, it’s middle line rhyming with the opening tercet’s first and third lines, making the form circular.